We are only two weeks away from the second annual Family Health Festival at Kidd Park, taking place on Saturday, September 30 in Long Beach, CA. I am so incredibly excited to be a part of this fun celebration of family and health.

In anticipation of what is sure to be an exciting event, I’ve compiled a list of 7 calorie-burning activities for your entire family. In addition to being fun and easy to facilitate, each activity encourages the type of interaction that will strengthen the bond between you and your family.

1. Go for post-dinner walks.

Building a walk into your daily schedule guarantees that it won’t get put off. You really don’t have to travel far. A simple walk around the block is enough to burn some of the calories from your dinner. This early evening stroll will also give you plenty of time to talk with your favorite people.

2. Boogie down as you crank up the music.

One of our favorite family activities is to move our furniture to the side of the room, hook up the CD or record player with upbeat dance tunes, and let everyone do their thing. It’s amazing how much joy a little song and dance can bring.

3. Turn household chores into a game.

Here’s one example of the type of game you can create from a simple household chore: Pretend that dust creatures are invading our dear planet and it is up to Captain [insert child’s name] to save the day by capturing them with his broom. This goes to show you how far a little creativity will go – especially when convincing your young ones to help clean up.

4. Exercise for charity.

Teaming up with your children for a fund-raising race allows you to model good health and the fine art of giving back to society. The best part is that it doesn’t really matter what you do. You can walk, or you can run. With this option, the actual physical activity you do matters less than the cause.

5. Put your kids to work in the yard.

Autumn offers the perfect opportunity to play catch – if you think outside the box. Fetch your kids after the falling leaves, and you will see them having more fun than you thought possible. You can make it competitive by seeing who can catch the most yellow, orange, or red leaves. Next, tell your kids to rake them into piles and have fun jumping in them. This never gets old.

6. Grow your kids into gardeners.

Kids are experts at digging up dirt (and, as we know, wearing it on their clothes), so let them turn over the soil and help you grow something new. Recent research reveals that gardening is as good as weight training, so there’s an immediate health benefit. Another benefit is that if you’re planting vegetables, your children will likely be more connected to the veggies. Why does this matter? Well, it should make them much more likely to actually eat their greens.

7. Walk the dog.

It should come as no surprise that recent research from the North American Association on the Study of Obesity shows that dog owners had more fun losing weight and were able to keep it off longer than those who are not dog owners. Those of us who have a pooch can attest to the fact that our canine friends are always ready and willing to join us, should we hit the open road for a walk around the neighborhood.

What are some of your favorite healthy family activities? Add them to the comments below.